Chapter 18
It was a standard week before the Jedi were able to safely transport Zafii and Kyn back to Coruscant after their crash landing. Kyn was in pretty good shape, physically. Mentally, however, he had been beating himself up over his foolish actions.
Zafii had passed out from an overuse of the Force. Her body was just unable to handle the power she was capable of conjuring. Unlike previous times though, this time she had not woken up a few hours later.
Jedi Healer Braca and Master Tine had been assigned to bring Zafii back to Coruscant. Master Windu had not so subtly hinted during a Council session that it was up to Tine's discretion whether he wanted to bring Kyn back as well.
Master Tine was not as cordial towards Kyn as he had been in the past but he let him grab a ride back to Corsucant with them. He needed to know what was happening and Kyn was a piece to that puzzle. Tine cared for Zafii too much to let this mystery go unsolved.
Unfortunately, Braca still had no answers.
"The only difference is I don't think she is going to wake back up this time." Braca had noted. "She is in a very deep vegetative state. I'm afraid that there might have been severe damage to parts of her brain."
"What does that mean?" Tine had asked on the trip back to Coruscant.
"It means she's in a coma, Boonte." Braca responded.
"Don't we have ways of waking her up?"
"There is a chance if we did that… she would be in such unbearable pain the only decent thing to do would be to kill her."
"How do we know she isn't in unbearable pain right now?" Tine asked.
"I can monitor that by her brain activity. She seems to be in a state of peace." Braca explained.
"What about the theory that people in a coma can hear what is going on around them? Perhaps I could speak to her; we could monitor her brain activity then."
"I see no high level brain function happening as of now. I'm sorry Boonte, it would be a terrible waste of time."
Master Tine wanted more than anything to save, Zafii. He would do whatever it took but he also trusted the wisdom and experience of his fellow Twi'lek, Braca. If she said there was no use, then he had no other alternative than to believe it.
Once they had landed on Coruscant, Master Tine quickly explained the situation to Kyn. After dodging a few emotionally charged questions by Kyn, Master Tine ended the conversation and told the young man that it would be for the best if he forgot about Zafii and got on with his life.
Master Tine didn't know who he was talking to when he had told Kyn to just forget about Zafii. How could anyone forget about, Zafii? Kyn had asked himself the maddening question in his own mind. She was the most thoughtful, giving, self sacrificing person he had ever met. Her only flaw was that she over extended herself. Other than that, in Kyn's eyes she was perfect.
He kept trying to think of how he could save Zafii. If he could just get her to wake up, he promised he would leave her alone and never force her to become involved in his life again. As he thought up irrational plan after irrational plan, he had arrived back at his company speeder in the exact spot he had left it over a week ago.
Kyn hopped in the driver's seat and saw that he had a message. When he first heard the voice, he knew who it was: Big Lohul!
[i]"Kyn, you thieving little rat! If you were going to quit, the least you could do was give me back my speeder. Instead you disabled the gps and now I can't find you or it. I will be pressing charges, you can count on that."[/i]
He hit the steering mechanism in frustration. The voice message from Lohul was just the icing on the cake. He decided he would take the speeder back to Lohul and hope against hope that he wouldn't press charges.
After an hour of begging Lohul's forgiveness, he was thankful that Big Lohul had only fired him and wasn't going to have him arrested for theft. Lohul even offered up one of his more trustworthy driver's to give Kyn a lift home.
Feeling bad enough, Kyn thanked him but refused and he paid his own way to his parents' apartment. When he arrived, Rayna initially hugged him but then became increasingly annoyed with his actions.
Tyon, on the other hand, was furious.
"You're not a kid anymore! You can't just go around doing these sorts of things. You need to grow up and grow up fast!" Tyon yelled.
"I know…" Kyn muttered.
"Do you!" Tyon raged on. "Because of you a young woman is in a coma and will probably never wake up again. You say that you care about this woman, yet you have continually put her at risk over the years."
"I know but it was never on purpose before." Kyn tried to explain but it was no use.
"But this time it was?" Kyra asked, walking in the apartment from school. "Did you go and find trouble on purpose, Kyn?"
Kyn looked at his feet. He was too embarrassed to meet his sister's stare.
"Kyn!" Kyra repeated. "Did you?"
Kyra's voice had dropped to a barely audible whisper as she asked the question again. Kyn was still unable to look his baby sister in the eyes. Tears began to fall down Kyra's face as every second passed that Kyn hadn't answered.
His silence was answer enough for her.
"You disgust me!" Kyra spat.
"Kyra…" Rayna tried to interject.
"NO!" Kyra yelled, throwing her school bag across the room. "I HATE HIM!"
Rayna tried to hug her youngest child but was thwarted. Kyra walked over to Kyn, heavy footed and began to slap him repeatedly in the chest and face.
Kyn did not try to deflect this onslaught, he knew he deserved it. It was Tyon who grabbed Kyra from behind and held her arms.
"That's enough, sweetie." Tyon pleaded.
"I HATE YOU!" Kyra reaffirmed. "SHE'S TOO GOOD FOR YOU! SHE WILL NEVER HATE YOU THE WAY I DO!"
She then broke free from her father's firm grip. A glass vase that was sitting on a table across the room shattered inexplicably as she ran to her room and locked the door.
Kyn nodded his head, almost as if he were delirious. "I deserved that."
"You deserve a lot," Rayna said. "But not that. We still love you, son. We all love you and nothing can ever change that."
Kyn shook his head, "Maybe but people can change. Relationships can change and I've just ruined two of them. She will never forgive me. Zafii was her hero."
Tyon nodded, "Zafii is a hero. Kyra loves her for that. There is no doubt about it. She may never fully forgive you but you need to forgive yourself and be that changed person you are talking about."
Days turned into weeks. Weeks turned into months. Another year had passed and Zafii was still resting within the confines of the Jedi Temple medical ward. She had shown no signs of recovery and was being fed and essentially kept alive by machines.
"Intend her to live this way, the Force does not." Master Yoda said sadly, looking at the young Jedi Knight lying in her bed.
"It is the will of the Force," Master Windu said solemnly.
"In agreement the Council is, inform the family we should."
"Family? Knight Pel's mother and father were killed years ago on Naboo." Windu reminded Yoda.
"The Fuller family." Yoda corrected him.
Windu didn't like the idea but nodded.
"Tell the Fuller family what?" Kyn said, walking in with Master Tine.
Mace cleared his throat, "It is the decision of the Jedi Council that we let Knight Pel become one with the Force. Her condition is not getting better and never will."
"You can't," Kyn said.
"The decision is made, young one." Windu shot back.
"Feelings of greed you must let go, young Fuller." Yoda said wisely.
"I won't let you kill her!" Kyn exclaimed.
"Us kill her? I was under the impression that was you who had done that." Windu argued.
"Master Windu," Yoda reprimanded his fellow Council member.
"This will be the last time you ever set foot in this temple, Fuller." Windu glared. "Say your goodbyes."
Master Tine was shocked by Windu's tone of voice but Kyn only stared at the Jedi Master with hatred. Master Yoda and Windu left and Kyn and Tine converged to Zafii's bedside.
"Your family was here last week," Tine stated.
Kyn did not respond. He only looked down at Zafii, tears welling up in his eyes. He gently took her hand in his own.
"I'm so sorry." Kyn whispered.
"I'll leave you be." Tine nodded and closed the blast door behind him.
He kneeled down so that his head was at level with Zafii's horizontal body. His eyes were red with sadness and he touched her sallow fingers to his cheek.
"I can't let them do this to you." Kyn whispered. "I know you'll come around some day. It hasn't been enough time."
Zafii continued to lay motionless on the bed; if it weren't for the small vein in her throat pulsing, she would have looked dead. She was now thinner than she had been on Naboo, her cheeks hollow.